Tuesday, 10 May 2011



Using quadrat technique to sample the population of daisies:

Use random sample (so not biased) also must be representative (large – for good results)

- Find random number to find the y and x axis numbers. For example if the random number was (3,3) the data would be taken from quadratic square (3,3)on the field.
- Each quadrate in this example is 1m by 1m
- Then count the number of daisies in that square

The sample needs to be representative Sample :
- The bigger the better
- 10 quadrates/ 10% of the actual area would be taken for the results
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Collecting data:
Make a table.
One column called ‘quadrates number’ and other column ‘Number of daisies per meter squared’
Add up column ‘Number of daisies per meter squared’

Divide the total from column ‘Number of daisies per meter squared’ by the number of quadrates
The result is the number of daisies per meter 2

Using this data we can compare the population of daisies with other field.


- Sand dune Ecosystem: made up of a number of populations (like all ecosystems) which then form the community and habitat.

- The fence runs through the middle which slits the sand dune area into two regions. One region is ‘Grazed’ by cattle and the other is ‘not grazed’

- Quadrating - (Quadrat = squares) Using string/wood/metal to make a square grid. Usually about 0.25m by 0.25m (or up to 1m by 1m)

- Quadrat used to sample the area and count the number of individuals here. The process is repeated a few times. This is done to get an estimate of the population size.

- Overall, Quadrating are a method or sampling different locations of population can be compared in the two locations.